Don't Wait To Buy Land, Environmentalists Urge

March 13, 1990|By Craig Quintana of The Sentinel Staff

PORT ORANGE — In the public land-buying game, a day late often means several thousands - or possibly millions - of dollars short.

This is the message a group of environmentalists and legislators presented Monday at an outdoor news conference at Spruce Creek, composed of 1,700 environmentally sensitive acres purchased by Volusia County.

In announcing support for Gov. Bob Martinez's proposed $3.2 billion bond issue for land acquisition, the group said the state no longer can wait while land prices soar and development gobbles up sensitive lands. The state should fund a large-scale land grab, the group said.

''It will either happen in the decade of the '90s or never,'' said Lee Bidgood, president of the Volusia-Flagler Environmental Political Action Committee. ''The price goes through the roof and the land gets chopped up.''

Flanked by state Reps. Dick Graham, R-Ormond Beach, and Jack Ascherl, D-New Smyrna Beach, House Speaker designee T.K. Wetherell lauded the governor's proposal. He urged the public to pressure the Legislature to pass the bond bill despite the 10-year price tag.

''It can't be done with smoke and mirrors,'' said the Daytona Beach Democrat, adding that the state could follow Volusia's lead.

In 1986, county voters approved a $20 million bond issue to buy environmentally endangered land. To fund the bond issue, property owners' taxes were increased by a quarter mill. In the time since, deals have been made to acquire 20,000 acres through outright purchases or cooperative deals with other government agencies.

One major project was the 1,700 acres of marshy grassland and river bluffs around Spruce Creek.

A year's delay inflated the price of the project's various tracts, said Clay Henderson, a Volusia County councilman who was instrumental in setting up the land-acquisition program.

In 1988, when the county wanted to buy, the property was appraised at $1.2 million. When the county bought it a year later, the land was valued at $2.85 million, although the county paid about $2.2 million, Henderson said.

Like the county, the state can ill afford to delay, Henderson said. By issuing the bonds this year, the state could revitalize the nearly bankrupt Conservation and Recreational Land program and save money, he said.

Volusia's Spruce Creek property, and an additional 300 adjoining acres, is ranked 27th on the CARL project list this year. The county hopes the state will reimburse it for the site, giving Volusia more funding for its program. But the high ranking is meaningless unless new funds come in, Henderson said.

''There's no money in the bank, and they're talking about funding projects next year,'' he said.

One of those is 7,898 acres on the eastern shore of Lake George, which the county is purchasing with the St. Johns River Water Management District. The county wants the state to buy the acreage and 7,923 acres on the lake's south side. The CARL commission Monday chose the project as one of 20 it will consider ranking this year.

Florida's proposed $3.2 billion would be more than the other 49 states combined are spending on land acquisition, said Reid Hughes, chairman of the Florida chapter of the Nature Conservancy, which buys land to sell to the government.

But it will fund the top 60 CARL projects, he said.

''What we're talking about is a holding pattern just to keep pace,'' he said.